Three to Get Ready
Dan Miller is on the hunt for a new job. He’s had some great placements with Mannies Incorporated, many as Manny to multiple birth families to get them over the hump. He even has experience with special needs children, so the job he’s interviewing for looks like it’s right up his alley.
When Dan arrives at Jack’s house, he discovers that this Jack Jones is his Jack Jones, the man he was in love with during college, and who broke up with Dan because Dan wanted children. Will Dan and Jack be able to put the past behind them and work with each other, or will their past keep them from having a future together?
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excerpt (there shall be a smutty one on Saturday)
Dan Miller followed the instructions on his GPS to one Jack Jones’ house for his interview. He was trying to decide if it was a good or bad omen that he’d dated a Jack Jones. It had ended, so maybe bad. On the other hand, they’d ended because Jack didn’t want kids and he did, which was better to learn early on before they’d invested a lot of time in each other, right? So good sign.
Chuckling at himself, he went over what Drake at Mannies, Inc. had told him about the family.
Single gay dad, one special-needs son—the boy was nearly six and legally blind. Apparently he could see general shapes if they were high contrast and he could see lights and light contrast. There were twin girls on their way. In a couple of weeks. In a few weeks, in fact.
Newborns were Dan’s favorite. He loved that new-baby smell. He loved their chubby little cheeks and limbs, their fat bellies, and how quickly they changed.
After reading the file, he had to agree with Drake that he seemed like a really good fit for the family.
The position was live-in, so he paid close attention as the condo came into view. Not far from the beach, it was a decent size, not too big, but not tiny. The front was neat and he could see the backyard was fenced in.
Pulling into the drive, he turned off the engine and took a deep breath. Okay. Interview time. He climbed out of the car, with his best ‘I’m the perfect man to look after your kids’ face on.
He knocked on the front door.
“Daddy! Maddie, someone is here!”
“I’ll get it, man. Hopefully, this one will work for your daddy, Mr. Picky. I have to leave the week of Thanksgiving. I have to.”
The door opened and a lovely dark-skinned young woman stood there with a skinny little boy in thick glasses. “Hey there. Can I help you?”
“Hi, Dan Miller. I’m here to see Mr. Jones?”
“Sure. Come on in. I’m Maddie, Nathan’s personal assistant.” She winked at him.
“Very nice to meet you.” He shook her hand.
Then he turned his attention to the little boy. “Hey there, you must be Nathan.”
“Uh-huh. Nathan James Jones.” One hand was held out. “Pleased meeting you.”
Dan took Nathan’s hand and shook it solemnly. “Pleased to meet you too.”
“Hey there. Sorry, man. I was paying some bills. Crazy life.”
Dan looked up at the familiar voice and blinked. Strong jaw, blond curls, and the bluest eyes in the history of the earth—that was Jack. His Jack.
Dan felt like he’d been poleaxed.
His Jack, who didn’t want kids, no way no how, was he fucking crazy for even suggesting it.
“Jack?” Oh smooth, Dan. Clearly it was Jack. Hell, even if he couldn’t believe his eyes, the folder he’d gotten from Drake had said the guy’s name was Jack.
“Dan? Danny? Oh my God!” Jack’s eyes went wide. “Look at you. You look amazing.”
He kind of hated the way Jack’s words made him stand a little taller, a little straighter. “So do you. The years have been good to you.” Thirteen years. Shit, things had changed in that time, that much was obvious, but not how just a glance from those devastating eyes could make his cock perk up. That hadn’t changed a damn bit.
“Thank you. Come on up to my office and we’ll catch up. Maddie, you okay with giving Nathan his lunch?” Jack asked.
“Sure thing, Boss.” She tilted her head. “So you two know each other?”
“It looks like,” Dan murmured, still stunned.
“We went to college together, believe it or not.” Jack offered him that warm grin. “He was my first.”
“First what, Daddy?” Nathan asked.
“My first boyfriend, cowboy.”
Dan nodded. His too. First boyfriend, first heartbreak—some firsts were better than others.
“Oh. I’m going to marry Jessica Mitchell when I grow up.” Nathan announced. “She smells like flowers.”
“And who is Jessica Mitchell?” Dan asked, amused. He loved the things kids said.
“My girlfriend.” Nathan sounded so sure.
“Gotcha.” Dan grinned at Jack.
Jack winked. “Come upstairs. I just moved the office to the third floor.”
“I’ll see you later, Nathan. And it was nice to meet you, Maddie.”
He followed Jack upstairs, telling himself it was bad form to admire your potential boss’ ass on the way to your interview with him.
Jack led him to the third floor, to a tiny, cozy office that was all windows.
“Please, have a seat. I’m still getting settled up here,” Jack admitted.
“This is awesome.” Looking around, Dan sat in the chair across the desk from Jack. He still couldn’t quite believe it was his Jack Jones.
“Thank you. So, a nanny? Really? That’s amazing.”
“Well, I always wanted kids.” As Jack knew. Dan just never had found anyone to share that with so he’d found another way to have kids in his life.
“You did. That’s cool.” Jack leaned back, the light sweater he wore clinging to his broad pecs, exposing a line of skin at his belly. “Well, this is going to not be like the interviews I’ve done so far.”
Dan chuckled softly. “No, I guess not. Although it’s been thirteen years—I can see you’ve changed a lot. I have as well. More settled. Mature and responsible, you know?” He wasn’t sure he’d have given his twenty-year-old self care over a child.
“No shit on that, man. My world’s a drastically different place than I dreamed it would be. Better.” Jack smiled and, Jesus. Dan had never seen that look on Jack before—happy and peaceful and utterly at one with the world.
It made him a little sad that he hadn’t been able to share this with Jack. It was what he’d wanted back when they were together. Shit, kids were why they’d broken up, for Christ’s sake.
Dan couldn’t begrudge Jack for it, though. He’d had some amazing kids come into his life through his job. And if they’d stuck it out, that never would have happened.
“So tell me about your family, why you need me.” Dan had a pretty good picture between the file Drake had given him and hearing that Maddie was leaving, but he liked to have the picture directly from the client.
“Well, Nathan is five, almost six. He’s in kindergarten in a regular public school. He has an assistant who’s provided by the schools, but he’s not in a special class. There’s nothing wrong with his brain. Just his eyes.” Jack’s voice got fierce for a moment, sharp as a razor.
It made Dan grin. He did love a man who could go all poppa bear over his kid. That was how it was meant to be. “That’s good to know. I only met him for a moment, but he seems pretty well-adjusted and in line with where I’d expect an almost-six-year-old to be.”
“He’s amazing.” The ferocity went soft and goofy.
Sean
smut fixes everything
YAY YAY YAY
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